Tag: Debra Kayn

She’s on the run . . . Jane Beaumont currently has in her possession: a cat, a hundred grand in cash, and a pistol. She’s on her way home to Bay City, Oregon-and away from the nightmare of her violent ex-boyfriend. She’ll lay low at Beaumont Body Shop, a car detailer that runs a private investigation agency in the back. The only wrench in her plan is Kage Archer: sexy, strong, and intent on protecting Jane at all costs. She’s wanted Kage forever, but putting him in harm’s way is not a risk she’s willing to take.

He’s not going anywhere Kage is no stranger to the dark side of life, but he’s always walked on the right side of the law. Yet when Jane expressed her interest in him years ago, he pushed her away for her own good. Now, after learning of all she’s endured, Kage can’t leave her side-or hide his need for her. When a frightening situation turns dire, can Kage convince Jane that the safest place to be is in his arms?

Excerpt:

Kage hung upside down on a bench, his feet secured under a padded bar, doing sit-ups. Light-headed at the bulked-and-beautiful sight of him, she could only focus on the ripple of his abs.

Garrett chuckled. “I’m out of here. See you tomorrow.”

“Yeah, okay…” She nodded, not taking her gaze off Kage.

“Stick with him, sis.” Garrett kissed the side of her head before crossing the room to talk quietly with Kage and then leaving.

Kage detached himself from the apparatus, performing a neat flip to land on his feet. He snatched a towel off a nearby weight bench and wiped his face, draping the cloth around his neck. She gulped as he approached. The air seemed to disappear and her head got fuzzy.

He frowned. “You okay? You’re not looking so well.”

Of course she didn’t. Her ex-boyfriend’s phone call had freaked her out. Eight hours behind a desk, shut in a room with no windows, and the first beautiful thing she sees today was Kage in a pair of loose-fitting shorts, hanging off his hips, covered in sweat. Of course she looked rattled.

Any woman would find herself entranced and drooling. She lifted her hand to her mouth. Her fingers came away dry. Oh, thank God.

“You’re the shit.” The moment her opinion slipped through her lips, she wanted to take it back.

He smiled. Not a half grin, but an all-white-teeth spectacular aimed at her. A rock-her-world kind of smile. She groaned. No wonder he worked out; he had to carry around his big ego.

“Yeah?” He moved in closer, now wearing his teasing face.

“Oh yeah, totally hot,” she whispered.

She could handle his angry face, even his scary face, but when he let it all fall away and acted like he did before her life had taken a downturn, he made her remember how she used to feel before Scott. She flinched and stepped away. “So, are you ready to go? I’m ready. We can go to your house.”

His face got serious. “Are you sure you’re all right?”

“I’m fine. Let’s go.” She turned around, because one more glimpse at his glistening body would send her into a full-blown panic.

He’d told her the next move was on her. If she wanted him, she’d have to show him. Right now, she could show him that and more.

“Let me grab a quick shower.” He turned and deliberately held her gaze. “That phone call is a good thing. It might not seem like it, but the more we know, the better we can work this guy.”

How could they all believe drawing Scott closer to her would be beneficial? The object was to stay far away from him. She wasn’t going back. Scott needed time to understand she was serious.

“Come on, I’ll take you to Lance while I wash up.” He motioned for her to follow him out.

“I’ll stay in here and wait.” She needed time to calm down, and she couldn’t do that with one of the guys always around.

“Not happening.” He shook his head. “You can’t be alone right now. The phone call from Carson is proof of that. Without a trace on the call, we have no idea how close he is. He could be anywhere. You’re safe inside this building, but I want you used to having someone around constantly.”

“I get it, but I’m already protected here,” she said.

“You are not protected without someone with you. I don’t care if you’re in the building. You’re certainly not okay if I think you’re about to faint and you’re alone. If I’m not with you, someone else I trust will be.”

She lifted her purse, dug inside, wrapped her fingers around the handle of the pistol, and pulled it out. “I can protect myself.”

He took a step back. His hands went to his sides. “What the hell are you doing?”

She waved the gun in his direction. “I’ve done okay on my own, and I can take care of myself and Bluff. I’ve been doing it for the last three weeks. Even if Scott gets near me, I can use this.”

“Jesus, woman.” Kage reached out, pushed her hand to the side away from him, and locked down on her wrist, prying the pistol out of her grip with the other hand. “No guns.”

The sexy biker, Reefer, gave Sarah an hour’s worth of sex in a kiss that lasted no more than ten seconds. He knocked her world off kilter; but little did he know, he’d set directly on target for his heart.

Sarah always dreamed of joining a motorcycle gang and hitting the open road. What better way to escape a troubled childhood filled with poverty and alcoholism than to ride out and live a gypsy lifestyle? Her life changed the morning a biker stopped in the middle of the road and asked if she wanted a ride.

Reefer had two rules: don’t mess around with women who didn’t grow up riding the road, and his biker family always came first. Nothing prepared him for the woman who hopped onto the back of his Harley with the ease of a born rider and peeled back the layers of his sealed heart. Two people running from a world full of hurt. Can they escape to find happiness or will they have to first revisit the past?

The Chromes & Wheel Gang, the biker “family” featured in the novels in this series, is an unusual group of people who are committed to life on the road, but in every sense of the word, they are family. The leaders of the group, Knuckles and Sunflower Butter, are surrogate parents to Reefer, a man whose mother mysteriously left him with his father and whose dad, one of the biker family, died when he was 16 years old. With abandonment issues, Reefer has made a promise to himself that he will never allow any female who is not a life-long biker, to become his permanent mate. Yet when he spies Sarah Lightfeather, a visiting nurse, peeking at him and his group as they rode past the home of one of his patients. Little does he know that her dream has always been to ride free from her life even though she loves her patients and loves what she does. What she doesn’t love is the fact that she will always carry the scars of having been raised by two alcoholics–a mother who has died of liver disease, and a dad who is even now drinking himself to death.

This is a novel about two people who are kind and caring, genuine in all the right ways, but who are carefully guarding that part of themselves where the old wounds reside. Yet Reefer cannot get Sarah’s sweet and beautiful face and smile out of his memories, and as he slowly gets to know her, realizes that she is as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside. As far as Sarah is concerned, Reefer is everything she has ever dreamed of in a man. So it appears it is a coupling made in heaven. Right? Wrong!! Sure, they manage to “get it on” and spend weeks together, each falling more and more in love with the other. But when two people have not resolved their trust and abandonment issues, it doesn’t take much to upend the relationship. That’s exactly how it played out between these two.

Ms Kayn has given us two novels that speak plainly about the issues that are probably uppermost in the experience of a large percentage of the human family, and the issues of trust and abandonment by the people who should love us the best are probably closest to our hearts and can hurt us deeply. The saving grace about both these individuals is their willingness to admit their wrongs, to own up to making serious mistakes. But one wonders if it is possible to move on when the person to whom we give our whole heart suddenly appears to be throwing that love and the loved one away like trash. I have pondered that a lot since finishing this book, and I still wonder how someone gets past that. A person may say “I forgive” but I wonder how much residual worry is left below the surface that can crop up at a later time and erode the good in the relationship. I think this book deals with some of that. The book is so well written, the characters are drawn with a sure hand, and the plot and story line clear and move forward. I especially like the fact that there are no long, drawn out sections of internal monologue or that inner debate that some authors seem intent on putting in their stories. (Yawn) It is a good balance between dialogue and those quiet narrative portions of the novel. I also found that the background characters were a hoot with names like Crank, Knuckles, Margarine, etc.

This author has a fine portfolio of published work and this is a good example of a novel written by someone who knows how to put a good novel together. And for readers who like bikers and that sense of the open road, you will enjoy this story. The first novel is equally entertaining and I am glad to have encountered this series, even though it was sort of an accident.

Judith’s review of Margot’s Lawman (Sisters of McDougal Ranch, #3) by Debra Kayn It’s hard to keep a secret in the small town of Pike, Montana, but veterinarian Margot McDougal and sheriff Roy Lee Hanson managed to keep their relationship on the sly for months. Margot cares for Roy Lee, but the last thing she needs is to worry about local gossip while she’s busy running her clinic and dealing with the loss of her beloved father.

Roy Lee can’t wait to tell the world that he loves Margot. He respected her decision to keep their affair quiet?until now. It’s time for everyone to know Margot is his gal…especially Ryan Martin, her new assistant. He’s formed an attachment to Margot and Roy Lee is sure the city boy’s unexplained appearance in Pike means he’s up to no good.

Margot just wants to help Ryan fit in, and Roy Lee’s jealousy soon drives a wedge between them. A wedge that only increases when Margot is roped into Ryan’s secret, too…

This is the third in a series of cowboy romances built around the experiences of sister, all of whom were names by their mother after her favorite kinds of lace. Now this third sister is the veterinarian of Pike, Montana, and Margot McDougal has engaged the services of a young vet because of the expansion of her practice. She is deeply in love with the sheriff who really doesn’t see any reason why their relationship has to remain a secret except for the fact that Margot’s dad has died recently and the entire family is trying to find their way out of a very deep grief.

And perhaps that is one of the important aspects of the stories in this series: that all the sisters are trying to deal with the death of their father by ALS and learning to live without his very large presence in their lives as not only a father but as a wise counselor and guide, a presence that became even more important after their mother’s death a few years ago. Add in the fact that there is a very real antipathy and dislike between the sheriff and Margot’s assistant–well, it’s probably more accurately called jealousy–and you have a novel that is filled with the good things that bind a family but also a story filled with tension, stress, and the wounds of unexpected discoveries about the people we have loved and lost.

I have enjoyed all the novels in this series and this one is no exception. It is a rousing look at contemporary Western living and especially in a solid family in a small town. I think there is a current Country and Western song that states ” . . . everyone dies a hero in a small town.” So it is in Pike, Montana and in the lives of these sisters and those who love them. The most poignant moment for me was when each of the sisters discovers a letter written to them during the final days of their dad’s life. Each of these letters gives the sisters insights and information about their dad’s thoughts that they had never known as well as final words of wisdom that help them to move in a positive direction in their future.

Lovers of cowboy and contemporary romance will like these stories, I think. They are very well-written and the stories are balanced with strong primary characters and continuing involvement of the McDougal family from previous novels. That’s one of the aspects of series I like the best. It sort of keeps the previous stories going just a bit longer for me. I hope you’ll get this book and enjoy it as much as I did.

Val McDougal knows all about heartbreak. First, the love of her life, Sam Turner, left to join the rodeo circuit two years ago. Now she faces a new kind of pain—her beloved father is dying. The last thing she needs is Sam’s unexpected return to Pike, Montana, to take over his family’s ranch, stirring up desires Val doesn’t think she can handle.

Sam knows he made the biggest mistake of his life when he broke things off with Val. He’s determined to win her back, this time for good. But despite the sizzling heat between them, Val keeps pulling away. He has to convince her to trust him—and her own heart—again, especially as the time draws near when she’ll need him the most…

I never cease to be amazed at the arrogance of human beings, myself included. We take responsibility for so many things over which we have no control–over which NO ONE could ever have control. The familiar lament: If only I hadn’t done that! or Why did I do or say that? Somehow we assume that in the cosmic order of living and all things relational that our actions or words can bring about disaster or influence the course of another’s life. Now don’t get me wrong. We can injure or wound others with words, and often those injuries do indeed change a person’s reactions and influence future choices. But to take responsibility for everyone’s life? I don’t think so!! And yet, that is exactly what Val McDougal seemed to be doing about everyone in her life. It is her irrational fears that seem to drive nearly every decision she makes, especially in regards to her relationship with Sam.

This is the second in a series of stories about sisters, all of whom had been named for specific kinds of lace. All of them have their issues and even the sister highlighted in book one continued to have a part of the back story in Val’s story. All the sisters were deeply wounded by their father’s battle with ALS, none more than Val.

This is one of those kinds of stories that seemed awash with hurt, old wounds, present griefs, and possibly a love affair gone awry and one that couldn’t ever be made right. That Sam was willing to face his own mistakes and do whatever he needed to in order to restore Val’s faith in him testified to his maturity and his commitment to their love. But Sam was only one of the characters who couldn’t seem to be able to get past Val’s irrational fears. Admittedly he was the primary focus of her fear, even though she wanted her relationship with Sam to be restored and to flourish. The reader gets the feeling that no matter what Sam tries to do, Val won’t be able to get past her fears.

Yet with all situations that seem hopeless, we romance fiction fans know that while love may not conquer all–in fact it can go serious wrong–there is never really a hopeless situation. No matter how long a love is put on life’s “back burner,” it will simmer and age and just get better in many cases. Sam’s time away on the rodeo circuit seemed to be the end of their affair–at least, that is what Val is feeling. Yet it may have been what Sam needed to discover the hole in his heart he would always bear if Val wasn’t there to fill it. I liked book one of this series a lot, but I think this second book had a greater level of intensity, due, in part, to the worsening situation with Val’s dad. That kind of grieving is especially poignant to those readers like me who have experienced the loss of a parent or have had to deal with loving and caring for a parent through a long debilitating illness.

Ms Kayn has written a novel that will pull at the heart strings and feed the libido that all of us nurture regularly with our love of romance fiction. The characters live in the real world, dealing with real challenges that often are not discussed but are real and influential, nevertheless. It is a very good read and a worthy sequel to the first book. I look forward to reading subsequent stories featuring the remaining McDougal sisters.

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